Spiro Babich arrived in 1910 as a young 20 year old man from the Island of Brac in the Adriatic Sea off of the coast of Yugoslavia. Spiro knew no English and surprisingly did very little fishing off the Island of Brac. His homeland was primarily an agrarian economy made up of small family farms growing olives grapes and vegetables. He came to the great land of America with twenty dollars to his name.
Spiro’s brother , Andrew had arrived in American earlier and ultimately became a sponsor for Spiro. They first fished together on the seiner “President” where Spiro was engineer and Andrew was the skipper. As the two men became more aware of each other’s instincts, they changed places.
By 1917, Spiro went off on this own and built the first of many vessels he would own during his lifetime. The “Superior,” a 65-foot seiner, was the first of these. He would own and operate a boat for two or three years, then sell it and order another one. His next boat in 1924 was the “Golden West.” He owned about 19 vessels in his lifetime. Some of the other boats were : “ Dependable, Reliable, Western Queen, Crusader, Liberator, Vanguard, Ranger, Emancipator, Invincible and Julia B “. The only vessel he kept from beginning to end was the “Invincible”, which operated from California to the Bering Sea.
Spiro was enormously successful and was the best fisherman in Gig Harbor as well as one of the best along the entire Pacific Coast. He was a task master, demanded excellence, was very competitive, tenacious, and gained the nickname “Lovo”, which in Croation meant” Hunter”. He was one of the first local men to fish in the False Pass area of the Bering Sea and operated there for many years. In the early 1930’s he became very involved in the Sardine fishery off of the California coast. He was very proud to be an American and was extremely grateful for the great opportunities he had to make a better life for his family.
Spiro’s last boat was the 66 foot Julia B., and was used in False Pass, Alaska, and for local fishing in Puget Sound.
After Spiro passed away in 1957 at the age of 67, many people paid respects to a man who, buy his own example became admired and respected as the King of his domain. Or, as frequently remembered, as “the best fisherman in Gig Harbor”.
His two well built homes and magnificent dock are still present in Gig Harbor. Spiro’s son Peter, and grandson, Randall, both followed the profession of commercial fishing and were very successful.
Written by Randall Babich, August 15, 2024